NVRAM data organization using self-describing entities for predictable recovery after power-loss

ABSTRACT

In one embodiment, a node coupled to a plurality of solid state drives (SSDs) executes a storage input/output (I/O) stack having a plurality of layers. Write data associated with one or more write requests to the SSDs is stored in a volatile log. The write data is organized into one or more extents that are copied to the SSDs. The volatile log has a front-end and a set of records with metadata. The metadata includes a head offset referencing an initial record and a tail offset referencing a final record. A portion of the one or more write requests including the write data is copied to a non-volatile log maintained in a non-volatile random access memory (NVRAM). The front-end and the set of records from the volatile log are copied, but the head offset and the tail offset are not, to reduce an amount of metadata copied to the NVRAM.

BACKGROUND

1. Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to storage systems and, more specifically, to logging of data, including metadata, in non-volatile random access memory (NVRAM) of a storage system.

2. Background

A storage system typically includes one or more storage devices, such as solid state drives (SSDs) embodied as flash storage devices, into which information may be entered, and from which the information may be obtained, as desired. The storage system may logically organize the information stored on the devices as storage containers, such as files or logical units (LUNs). These storage containers may be accessible by a host system using a data protocol over a network connecting the storage system to the host. Each storage container may be implemented as a set of data structures, such as data blocks that store data for the storage containers and metadata blocks that describe the data of the storage containers.

Some types of SSDs, especially those with NAND flash components, move data among those components at the granularity of a page (e.g., 8 kilobytes) and then only to previously erased pages. Typically, pages are erased exclusively in blocks of 32 or more pages (i.e., 256 KB or more). Accordingly, to store data from one or more input/output (I/O) requests, e.g., smaller than a page, an SSD may modify a page, then erase an entire block (e.g., 256 KB) and rewrite the entire block as modified by the data (i.e., less than a page, 8 KB). As a result, storage to SSD may be slow and inefficient, even slower than some traditional magnetic media disk drives. Thus, fast and efficient acknowledgement of the I/O requests by the storage system is desirable so as to reduce latency from the perspective of a host. To that end, some protocols permit data to be stored out-of-order, i.e., in different order to that which I/O requests from the host are received at the storage system.

However, data associated with an I/O request may be lost when power is interrupted on the storage system. This is particularly problematic when the I/O request, e.g., a write request, from the host has been acknowledged by the storage system and write data associated with the request has been sent to the one or more storage devices prior to a power loss, i.e., power is interrupted prior to permanent storage on the device. Recording, e.g., logging, the write request (including write data) to a persistent medium on the storage system and acknowledging the write request to the host reduces the window of storage system vulnerability, i.e., the time during which the storage system cannot guarantee persistent storing of the write request to the data container.

However, recording of the write request (including write data) along with eventual storage of the write data to the data container consumes storage system resources, such as I/O bandwidth. This is particularly acute in high I/O operations per second (TOPS) storage systems where recording each write request may involve multiple metadata accesses to storage which increases latency of write request acknowledgements to the host. Therefore, there is a need to provide low latency for acknowledgement of I/O requests while providing power loss resiliency by persistently logging those I/O requests.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and further advantages of the embodiments herein may be better understood by referring to the following description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which like reference numerals indicate identically or functionally similar elements, of which:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a plurality of nodes interconnected as a cluster;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a node;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a storage input/output (I/O) stack of the node;

FIG. 4 illustrates a write path of the storage I/O stack;

FIG. 5 illustrates a read path of the storage I/O stack;

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of logging in a persistence layer of the storage I/O stack;

FIG. 7 a is a block diagram of the persistence layer log format of the storage I/O stack;

FIG. 7 b. illustrates replay of the persistence layer log from NVRAM;

FIG. 7 c. illustrates advancement of the persistence layer log in memory; and

FIG. 8 illustrates data and metadata paths of the storage I/O stack.

DESCRIPTION OF ILLUSTRATIVE EMBODIMENTS

The embodiments described herein provide a parallel (e.g., tiered) logging technique configured to deliver low latency acknowledgements of input/output (I/O) requests, such as write requests, while avoiding loss of data associated with the requests that may occur as a result of power failures. Write data associated with one or more write requests may be received at a storage system, which is illustratively embodied as a node of a cluster. The write data may be stored (copied) as a log in a portion of a volatile (dynamic) random access memory (DRAM) and a non-volatile random access memory (NVRAM). The NVRAM may be configured as, e.g., a persistent write-back cache of the node, while parameters of the request may be stored in another portion of the NVRAM configured as the log (NVLog). The write data may be organized into separate variable length blocks or extents and “written back” out-of-order from the write-back cache to storage devices, such as SSDs, e.g., organized into a data container (intended destination of the write request). Illustratively, the storage devices may be consumer grade SSDs serviced by other nodes in the cluster. The write data may be preserved in the NVlog until each extent is safely and successfully stored on SSD (i.e., in the event of power loss) to thereby provide efficient recovery when attempting to restore the write data preserved (persistently) in the NVlog to the data container.

Description

Storage Cluster

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a plurality of nodes 200 interconnected as a cluster 100 and configured to provide storage service relating to the organization of information on storage devices. The nodes 200 may be interconnected by a cluster interconnect fabric 110 and include functional components that cooperate to provide a distributed storage architecture of the cluster 100, which may be deployed in a storage area network (SAN). As described herein, the components of each node 200 include hardware and software functionality that enable the node to connect to one or more hosts 120 over a computer network 130, as well as to one or more storage arrays 150 of storage devices over a storage interconnect 140, to thereby render the storage service in accordance with the distributed storage architecture.

Each host 120 may be embodied as a general-purpose computer configured to interact with any node 200 in accordance with a client/server model of information delivery. That is, the client (host) may request the services of the node, and the node may return the results of the services requested by the host, by exchanging packets over the network 130. The host may issue packets including file-based access protocols, such as the Network File System (NFS) protocol over the Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP), when accessing information on the node in the form of storage containers such as files and directories. However, in an embodiment, the host 120 illustratively issues packets including block-based access protocols, such as the Small Computer Systems Interface (SCSI) protocol encapsulated over TCP (iSCSI) and SCSI encapsulated over FC (FCP), when accessing information in the form of storage containers such as logical units (LUNs). Notably, any of the nodes 200 may service a request directed to a storage container stored on the cluster 100.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a node 200 that is illustratively embodied as a storage system having one or more central processing units (CPUs) 210 coupled to a memory 220 via a memory bus 215. The CPU 210 is also coupled to a network adapter 230, storage controllers 240, a cluster interconnect interface 250 and a non-volatile random access memory (NVRAM 280) via a system interconnect 270. The network adapter 230 may include one or more ports adapted to couple the node 200 to the host(s) 120 over computer network 130, which may include point-to-point links, wide area networks, virtual private networks implemented over a public network (Internet) or a local area network. The network adapter 230 thus includes the mechanical, electrical and signaling circuitry needed to connect the node to the network 130, which illustratively embodies an Ethernet or Fibre Channel (FC) network.

The memory 220 may include memory locations that are addressable by the CPU 210 for storing software programs and data structures associated with the embodiments described herein. The CPU 210 may, in turn, include processing elements and/or logic circuitry configured to execute the software programs, such as a storage input/output (I/O) stack 300, and manipulate the data structures. Illustratively, the storage I/O stack 300 may be implemented as a set of user mode processes that may be decomposed into a plurality of threads. An operating system kernel 224, portions of which are typically resident in memory 220 (in-core) and executed by the processing elements (i.e., CPU 210), functionally organizes the node by, inter alia, invoking operations in support of the storage service implemented by the node and, in particular, the storage I/O stack 300. A suitable operating system kernel 224 may include a general-purpose operating system, such as the UNIX® series or Microsoft Windows® series of operating systems, or an operating system with configurable functionality such as microkernels and embedded kernels. However, in an embodiment described herein, the operating system kernel is illustratively the Linux® operating system. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that other processing and memory means, including various computer readable media, may be used to store and execute program instructions pertaining to the embodiments herein.

Each storage controller 240 cooperates with the storage I/O stack 300 executing on the node 200 to access information requested by the host 120. The information is preferably stored on storage devices such as solid state drives (SSDs) 260, illustratively embodied as flash storage devices, of storage array 150. In an embodiment, the flash storage devices may be based on NAND flash components, e.g., single-layer-cell (SLC) flash, multi-layer-cell (MLC) flash or triple-layer-cell (TLC) flash, although it will be understood to those skilled in the art that other non-volatile, solid-state electronic devices (e.g., drives based on storage class memory components) may be advantageously used with the embodiments described herein. Accordingly, the storage devices may or may not be block-oriented (i.e., accessed as blocks). The storage controller 240 includes one or more ports having I/O interface circuitry that couples to the SSDs 260 over the storage interconnect 140, illustratively embodied as a serial attached SCSI (SAS) topology. Alternatively, other point-to-point I/O interconnect arrangements, such as a conventional serial ATA (SATA) topology or a PCI topology, may be used. The system interconnect 270 may also couple the node 200 to a local service storage device 248, such as an SSD configured to locally store cluster-related configuration information, e.g., as cluster database (DB) 244, which may be replicated to other nodes 200 in the cluster 100.

The cluster interconnect interface 250 may include one or more ports adapted to couple the node 200 to the other node(s) of the cluster 100. In an embodiment, Ethernet may be used as the clustering protocol and interconnect fabric media, although it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that other types of protocols and interconnects, such as Infiniband, may be utilized within the embodiments described herein. The NVRAM 280 may include a back-up battery or other built-in last-state retention capability (e.g., non-volatile semiconductor memory such as storage class memory) that is capable of maintaining data in light of a failure to the node and cluster environment. Illustratively, a portion of the NVRAM 280 may be configured as one or more non-volatile logs (NVLogs 285) configured to temporarily record (“log”) I/O requests, such as write requests, received from the host 120.

Storage I/O Stack

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of the storage I/O stack 300 that may be advantageously used with one or more embodiments described herein. The storage I/O stack 300 includes a plurality of software modules or layers that cooperate with other functional components of the nodes 200 to provide the distributed storage architecture of the cluster 100. In an embodiment, the distributed storage architecture presents an abstraction of a single storage container, i.e., all of the storage arrays 150 of the nodes 200 for the entire cluster 100 organized as one large pool of storage. In other words, the architecture consolidates storage, i.e., the SSDs 260 of the arrays 150, throughout the cluster (retrievable via cluster-wide keys) to enable storage of the LUNs. Both storage capacity and performance may then be subsequently scaled by adding nodes 200 to the cluster 100.

Illustratively, the storage I/O stack 300 includes an administration layer 310, a protocol layer 320, a persistence layer 330, a volume layer 340, an extent store layer 350, a Redundant Array of Independent Disks (RAID) layer 360, a storage layer 365 and a NVRAM (storing NVLogs) “layer” interconnected with a messaging kernel 370. The messaging kernel 370 may provide a message-based (or event-based) scheduling model (e.g., asynchronous scheduling) that employs messages as fundamental units of work exchanged (i.e., passed) among the layers. Suitable message-passing mechanisms provided by the messaging kernel to transfer information between the layers of the storage I/O stack 300 may include, e.g., for intra-node communication: i) messages that execute on a pool of threads, ii) messages that execute on a single thread progressing as an operation through the storage I/O stack, iii) messages using an Inter Process Communication (IPC) mechanism, and e.g., for inter-node communication: messages using a Remote Procedure Call (RPC) mechanism in accordance with a function shipping implementation. Alternatively, the storage I/O stack 300 may be implemented using a thread-based or stack-based execution model without messages. In one or more embodiments, the messaging kernel 370 allocates processing resources from the operating system kernel 224 to execute the messages. Each storage I/O stack layer may be implemented as one or more instances (i.e., processes) executing one or more threads (e.g., in kernel or user space) that process the messages passed between the layers such that the messages provide synchronization for blocking and non-blocking operation of the layers.

In an embodiment, the protocol layer 320 may communicate with the host 120 over the network 130 by exchanging discrete frames or packets configured as I/O requests according to pre-defined protocols, such as iSCSI and FCP. An I/O request, e.g., a read or write request, may be directed to a LUN and may include I/O parameters such as, inter alia, a LUN identifier (ID), a logical block address (LBA) of the LUN, a length (i.e., amount of data) and, in the case of a write request, write data. The protocol layer 320 receives the I/O request and forwards it to the persistence layer 330, which records the request into a persistent write-back cache 380, illustratively embodied as a log whose contents can be replaced randomly, e.g., under some random access replacement policy rather than only in serial fashion, and returns an acknowledgement to the host 120 via the protocol layer 320. In one or more embodiments, only I/O requests that modify the LUN, e.g., write requests, are logged. Notably, the I/O request may be logged at the node receiving the I/O request, or in an alternative embodiment in accordance with the function shipping implementation, the I/O request may be logged at another node.

Illustratively, dedicated logs may be maintained by the various layers of the storage I/O stack 300. For example, a dedicated log 335 may be maintained by the persistence layer 330 to record the I/O parameters of an I/O request as equivalent internal, i.e., storage I/O stack, parameters, e.g., volume ID, offset, and length. In the case of a write request, the persistence layer 330 may also cooperate with the NVRAM 280 to implement the write-back cache 380 configured to store the write data associated with the write request. In an embodiment, the write-back cache may be structured as a log. Notably, the write data for the write request may be physically stored in the cache 380 such that the log 335 contains the reference to the associated write data. It will be understood to persons skilled in the art that other variations of data structures may be used to store or maintain the write data in NVRAM including data structures with no logs. In an embodiment, a copy of the write-back cache may also be maintained in the memory 220 to facilitate direct memory access to the storage controllers. In other embodiments, caching may be performed at the host 120 or at a receiving node in accordance with a protocol that maintains coherency between the write data stored at the cache and the cluster.

In an embodiment, the administration layer 310 may apportion the LUN into multiple volumes, each of which may be partitioned into multiple regions (e.g., allotted as disjoint block address ranges), with each region having one or more segments stored as multiple stripes on the array 150. A plurality of volumes distributed among the nodes 200 may thus service a single LUN, i.e., each volume within the LUN services a different LBA range (i.e., offset and length, hereinafter offset range) or set of ranges within the LUN. The protocol layer 320 may implement a volume mapping technique to identify a volume to which the I/O request is directed (i.e., the volume servicing the offset range indicated by the parameters of the I/O request). Illustratively, the cluster database 244 may be configured to maintain one or more associations (e.g., key-value pairs) for each of the multiple volumes, e.g., an association between the LUN ID and a volume, as well as an association between the volume and a node ID for a node managing the volume. The administration layer 310 may also cooperate with the database 244 to create (or delete) one or more volumes associated with the LUN (e.g., creating a volume ID/LUN key-value pair in the database 244). Using the LUN ID and LBA (or LBA range), the volume mapping technique may provide a volume ID (e.g., using appropriate associations in the cluster database 244) that identifies the volume and node servicing the volume destined for the request, as well as translate the LBA (or LBA range) into an offset and length within the volume. Specifically, the volume ID is used to determine a volume layer instance that manages volume metadata associated with the LBA or LBA range. As noted, the protocol layer 320 may pass the I/O request (i.e., volume ID, offset and length) to the persistence layer 330, which may use the function shipping (e.g., inter-node) implementation to forward the I/O request to the appropriate volume layer instance executing on a node in the cluster based on the volume ID.

In an embodiment, the volume layer 340 may manage the volume metadata by, e.g., maintaining states of host-visible containers, such as ranges of LUNs, and performing data management functions, such as creation of snapshots and clones, for the LUNs in cooperation with the administration layer 310. The volume metadata is illustratively embodied as in-core mappings from LUN addresses (i.e., LBAs) to durable extent keys, which are unique cluster-wide IDs associated with SSD storage locations for extents within an extent key space of the cluster-wide storage container. That is, an extent key may be used to retrieve the data of the extent at an SSD storage location associated with the extent key. Alternatively, there may be multiple storage containers in the cluster wherein each container has its own extent key space, e.g., where the administration layer 310 provides distribution of extents among the storage containers. Illustratively, an extent is a variable length block of data that provides a unit of storage on the SSDs that need not be aligned on any specific boundary, i.e., it may be byte aligned. Accordingly, an extent may be an aggregation of write data from a plurality of write requests to maintain such alignment. Illustratively, the volume layer 340 may record the forwarded request (e.g., information or parameters characterizing the request), as well as changes to the volume metadata, in dedicated log 345 maintained by the volume layer. Subsequently, the contents of the volume layer log 345 may be written to the storage array 150 in accordance with retirement of log entries, while a checkpoint (e.g., synchronization) operation that stores in-core metadata on the array 150. That is, the checkpoint operation (checkpoint) ensures that a consistent state of metadata, as processed in-core, is committed to (i.e., stored on) the storage array 150; whereas the retirement of log entries ensures that the entries accumulated in the volume layer log 345 synchronize with the metadata checkpoints committed to the storage array 150 by, e.g., retiring those accumulated log entries that are prior to the checkpoint. In one or more embodiments, the checkpoint and retirement of log entries may be data driven, periodic or both.

In an embodiment, the extent store layer 350 is responsible for storing extents on the SSDs 260 (i.e., on the storage array 150) and for providing the extent keys to the volume layer 340 (e.g., in response to a forwarded write request). The extent store layer 350 is also responsible for retrieving data (e.g., an existing extent) using an extent key (e.g., in response to a forwarded read request). The extent store layer 350 may be responsible for performing de-duplication and compression on the extents prior to storage. The extent store layer 350 may maintain in-core mappings (e.g., embodied as hash tables) of extent keys to SSD storage locations (e.g., offset on an SSD 260 of array 150). The extent store layer 350 may also maintain a dedicated log 355 of entries that accumulate requested “put” and “delete” operations (i.e., write requests and delete requests for extents issued from other layers to the extent store layer 350), where these operations change the in-core mappings (i.e., hash table entries). Subsequently, the in-core mappings and contents of the extent store layer log 355 may be written to the storage array 150 in accordance with a “fuzzy” checkpoint 390 (i.e., checkpoints with incremental changes recorded in one or more log files) in which selected in-core mappings, less than the total, are committed to the array 150 at various intervals (e.g., driven by an amount of change to the in-core mappings, size thresholds of log 355, or periodically). Notably, the accumulated entries in log 355 may be retired once all in-core mappings have been committed to include the changes recorded in those entries.

In an embodiment, the RAID layer 360 may organize the SSDs 260 within the storage array 150 as one or more RAID groups (e.g., sets of SSDs) that enhance the reliability and integrity of extent storage on the array by writing data “stripes” having redundant information, i.e., appropriate parity information with respect to the striped data, across a given number of SSDs 260 of each RAID group. The RAID layer 360 may also store a number of stripes (e.g., stripes of sufficient depth), e.g., in accordance with a plurality of contiguous range write operations, so as to reduce data relocation (i.e., internal flash block management) that may occur within the SSDs as a result of the operations. In an embodiment, the storage layer 365 implements storage I/O drivers that may communicate directly with hardware (e.g., the storage controllers 240 and cluster interface 250) cooperating with the operating system kernel 224, such as a Linux virtual function I/O (VFIO) driver.

Write Path

FIG. 4 illustrates an I/O (e.g., write) path 400 of the storage I/O stack 300 for processing an I/O request, e.g., a SCSI write request 410. The write request 410 may be issued by host 120 and directed to a LUN stored on the storage array 150 of the cluster 100. Illustratively, the protocol layer 320 receives and processes the write request by decoding 420 (e.g., parsing and extracting) fields of the request, e.g., LUN ID, LBA and length (shown at 413), as well as write data 414. The protocol layer 320 may use the results 422 from decoding 420 for a volume mapping technique 430 (described above) that translates the LUN ID and LBA range (i.e., equivalent offset and length) of the write request to an appropriate volume layer instance, i.e., volume ID (volume 445), in the cluster 100 that is responsible for managing volume metadata for the LBA range. In an alternative embodiment, the persistence layer 330 may implement the above-described volume mapping technique 430. The protocol layer then passes the results 432, e.g., volume ID, offset, length (as well as write data), to the persistence layer 330, which records the request in the persistence layer log 335 and returns an acknowledgement to the host 120 via the protocol layer 320. The persistence layer 330 may aggregate and organize write data 414 from one or more write requests into a new extent 470 and perform a hash computation, i.e., a hash function, on the new extent to generate a hash value 472 in accordance with an extent hashing technique 474.

The persistence layer 330 may then pass the write request with aggregated write data including, e.g., the volume ID, offset and length, as parameters 434 to the appropriate volume layer instance. In an embodiment, message passing of the parameters 432 (received by the persistence layer) may be redirected to another node via the function shipping mechanism, e.g., RPC, for inter-node communication. Alternatively, message passing of the parameters 434 may be via the IPC mechanism, e.g., message threads, for intra-node communication.

In one or more embodiments, a bucket mapping technique 476 is provided that translates the hash value 472 to an instance of an appropriate extent store layer (e.g., extent store instance 478) that is responsible for storing the new extent 470. Note, the bucket mapping technique may be implemented in any layer of the storage I/O stack 300 above the extent store layer 350. In an embodiment, for example, the bucket mapping technique may be implemented in the persistence layer 330, the volume layer 340, or a layer that manages cluster-wide information, such as a cluster layer (not shown). The persistence layer 330 may then pass the hash value 472 and the new extent 470 to the appropriate volume layer instance and onto the appropriate extent store instance via an extent store put operation. The extent hashing technique 474 may embody an approximately uniform hash function to ensure that any random extent to be written may have an approximately equal chance of falling into any extent store instance 478, i.e., hash buckets are distributed across extent store instances of the cluster 100 based on available resources. As a result, the bucket mapping technique 476 provides load-balancing of write operations (and, by symmetry, read operations) across nodes 200 of the cluster, while also leveling flash wear in the SSDs 260 of the cluster.

In response to the put operation, the extent store instance may process the hash value 472 to perform an extent metadata selection technique 480 that (i) selects an appropriate hash table 482 (e.g., hash table 482 a) from a set of hash tables (illustratively in-core) within the extent store instance 478, and (ii) extracts a hash table index 484 from the hash value 472 to index into the selected hash table and lookup a table entry having an extent key 475 identifying a storage location 490 on SSD 260 for the extent. Accordingly, the extent store layer 350 may contain computer executable instructions executed by the CPU 210 to perform operations that implement the metadata selection technique 480 described herein. If a table entry with a matching key is found, the SSD location 490 mapped from the extent key 475 is used to retrieve an existing extent (not shown) from SSD. The existing extent is then compared with the new extent 470 to determine whether their data is identical. If the data is identical, the new extent 470 is already stored on SSD 260 and a de-duplication opportunity (denoted de-duplication 452) exists such that there is no need to write another copy of the data. Accordingly, a reference count (not shown) in the table entry for the existing extent is incremented and the extent key 475 of the existing extent is passed to the appropriate volume layer instance for storage within an entry (denoted as volume metadata entry 446) of a dense tree metadata structure (e.g., dense tree 444 a), such that the extent key 475 is associated an offset range (e.g., offset range 440 a) of the volume 445.

However, if the data of the existing extent is not identical to the data of the new extent 470, a collision occurs and a deterministic algorithm is invoked to sequentially generate as many new candidate extent keys (not shown) mapping to the same bucket as needed to either provide de-duplication 452 or produce an extent key that is not already stored within the extent store instance. Notably, another hash table (e.g. hash table 482 n) of extent store instance 478 may be selected by a new candidate extent key in accordance with the extent metadata selection technique 480. In the event that no de-duplication opportunity exists (i.e., the extent is not already stored) the new extent 470 is compressed in accordance with compression technique 454 and passed to the RAID layer 360, which processes the new extent 470 for storage on SSD 260 within one or more stripes 464 of RAID group 466. The extent store instance may cooperate with the RAID layer 360 to identify a storage segment 460 (i.e., a portion of the storage array 150) and a location on SSD 260 within the segment 460 in which to store the new extent 470. Illustratively, the identified storage segment is a segment with a large contiguous free space having, e.g., location 490 on SSD 260 b for storing the extent 470.

In an embodiment, the RAID layer 360 then writes the stripes 464 across the RAID group 466, illustratively as a full write stripe 462. The RAID layer 360 may write a series of stripes 464 of sufficient depth to reduce data relocation that may occur within flash-based SSDs 260 (i.e., flash block management). The extent store instance then (i) loads the SSD location 490 of the new extent 470 into the selected hash table 482 n (i.e., as selected by the new candidate extent key), (ii) passes a new extent key (denoted as extent key 475) to the appropriate volume layer instance for storage within an entry (also denoted as volume metadata entry 446) of a dense tree 444 managed by that volume layer instance, and (iii) records a change to metadata of the selected hash table in the extent store layer log 355. Illustratively, the volume layer instance selects dense tree 444 a spanning an offset range 440 a of the volume 445 that encompasses the offset range of the write request. As noted, the volume 445 (e.g., an offset space of the volume) is partitioned into multiple regions (e.g., allotted as disjoint offset ranges); in an embodiment, each region is represented by a dense tree 444. The volume layer instance then inserts the volume metadata entry 446 into the dense tree 444 a and records a change corresponding to the volume metadata entry in the volume layer log 345. Accordingly, the I/O (write) request is sufficiently stored on SSD 260 of the cluster.

Read Path

FIG. 5 illustrates an I/O (e.g., read) path 500 of the storage I/O stack 300 for processing an I/O request, e.g., a SCSI read request 510. The read request 510 may be issued by host 120 and received at the protocol layer 320 of a node 200 in the cluster 100. Illustratively, the protocol layer 320 processes the read request by decoding 420 (e.g., parsing and extracting) fields of the request, e.g., LUN ID, LBA, and length (shown at 513), and uses the results 522, e.g., LUN ID, offset, and length, for the volume mapping technique. That is, the protocol layer 320 may implement the volume mapping technique 430 (described above) to translate the LUN ID and LBA range (i.e., equivalent offset and length) of the read request to an appropriate volume layer instance, i.e., volume ID (volume 445), in the cluster 100 that is responsible for managing volume metadata for the LBA (i.e., offset) range. The protocol layer then passes the results 532 to the persistence layer 330, which may search the write-back cache 380 to determine whether some or all of the read request can be serviced from its cached data. If the entire request cannot be serviced from the cached data, the persistence layer 330 may then pass the remaining portion of the request including, e.g., the volume ID, offset and length, as parameters 534 to the appropriate volume layer instance in accordance with the function shipping mechanism (e.g., RPC, for inter-node communication) or the IPC mechanism (e.g., message threads, for intra-node communication).

The volume layer instance may process the read request to access a dense tree metadata structure (e.g., dense tree 444 a) associated with a region (e.g., offset range 440 a) of a volume 445 that encompasses the requested offset range (specified by parameters 534). The volume layer instance may further process the read request to search for (lookup) one or more volume metadata entries 446 of the dense tree 444 a to obtain one or more extent keys 475 associated with one or more extents 470 within the requested offset range. Illustratively, each dense tree 444 may be embodied as a-multiple levels of a search structure with possibly overlapping offset range entries at each level. The entries, i.e., volume metadata entries 446, provide mappings from host-accessible LUN addresses, i.e., LBAs (offsets), to durable extent keys. The various levels of the dense tree may have volume metadata entries 446 for the same offset, in which case the higher level has the newer entry and is used to service the read request. A top level of the dense tree 444 is illustratively resident in-core and a page cache 448 may be used to access lower levels of the tree. If the requested range or portion thereof is not present in the top level, a metadata page associated with an index entry at the next lower tree level is accessed. The metadata page (i.e., in the page cache 448) at the next level is then searched (e.g., a binary search) to find any overlapping entries. This process is then iterated until one or more volume metadata entries 446 of a level are found to ensure that the extent key(s) 475 for the entire requested read range are found. If no metadata entries exist for the entire or portions of the requested read range, then the missing portion(s) are zero filled.

Once found, each extent key 475 is processed by the volume layer 340 to, e.g., implement the bucket mapping technique 476 that translates the extent key to an appropriate extent store instance 478 responsible for storing the requested extent 470. Note that, in an embodiment, each extent key 475 may be substantially identical to the hash value 472 associated with the extent 470, i.e., the hash value as calculated during the write request for the extent, such that the bucket mapping 476 and extent metadata selection 480 techniques may be used for both write and read path operations. Note also that the extent key 475 may be derived from the hash value 472. The volume layer 340 may then pass the extent key 475 (i.e., the hash value from a previous write request for the extent) to the appropriate extent store instance 478 (via an extent store get operation), which performs an extent key-to-SSD mapping to determine the location on SSD 260 for the extent.

In response to the get operation, the extent store instance may process the extent key 475 (i.e., the hash value 472) to perform the extent metadata selection technique 480 that (i) selects an appropriate hash table (e.g., hash table 482 a) from a set of hash tables within the extent store instance 478, and (ii) extracts a hash table index 484 from the extent key 475 (i.e., the hash value 472) to index into the selected hash table and lookup a table entry having a matching extent key 475 that identifies a storage location 490 on SSD 260 for the extent 470. That is, the SSD location 490 mapped to the extent key 475 may be used to retrieve the existing extent (denoted as extent 470) from SSD 260 (e.g., SSD 260 b). The extent store instance then cooperates with the RAID layer 360 to access the extent on SSD 260 b and retrieve the data contents in accordance with the read request. Illustratively, the RAID layer 360 may read the extent in accordance with an extent read operation 468 and pass the extent 470 to the extent store instance. The extent store instance may then decompress the extent 470 in accordance with a decompression technique 456, although it will be understood to those skilled in the art that decompression can be performed at any layer of the storage I/O stack 300. The extent 470 may be stored in a buffer (not shown) in memory 220 and a reference to that buffer may be passed back through the layers of the storage I/O stack. The persistence layer may then load the extent into a read cache 580 (or other staging mechanism) and may extract appropriate read data 512 from the read cache 580 for the LBA range of the read request 510. Thereafter, the protocol layer 320 may create a SCSI read response 514, including the read data 512, and return the read response to the host 120.

Parallel Logging

As noted, a write request 410 (along with write data 414) received at the persistence layer 330 is illustratively recorded in the NVLogs 285 (i.e., persistent layer log 335). To that end, the persistence layer 330 may cooperate with the NVRAM to employ a log for recording an I/O request 410 issued by the host 120. Illustratively, the persistence layer 330 may cooperate with the NVRAM 280 to hide latencies associated with underlying operations (e.g., data and metadata path operations) within the storage I/O stack 300. Storage of write data 414 in the NVRAM 280 enables immediate, i.e., low latency, acknowledgement to the host 120 of successful receipt and storage of the write data on the cluster 100. The write data 414 may be stored in NVRAM in the form of a log, e.g., dedicated log 335 of NVLogs 285. In an embodiment, the write data may also be illustratively organized in the NVRAM in the form of the persistent write-back cache 380, which may be organized as pointers to write data stored in the log 335. The write data 414 is thereafter preserved in the NVRAM until written to the storage array 150 (i.e., to the data container) according to a “write-back” operation (as opposed to a checkpoint). Thus, the storage I/O stack 300 need not checkpoint write data; it need only write-back the data to SSD.

Illustratively, storage of the write data 414 to the data container (i.e., the “write-back” operation) may be performed “lazily” (i.e., delayed) depending on the size of the persistence layer log, e.g., in NVRAM. That is, storage of the write data 414 to the data container (i.e., in an extent store) may be delayed, so long as the persistent layer log has capacity to log (i.e., record) incoming write requests which are acknowledged to the host. In an embodiment, a persistent layer log capacity threshold (not shown) may be used to trigger write-back operations which drain the log (i.e., retire log records). Note that when the persistence layer log is full, write requests cannot be safely acknowledged.

Advantageously, use of the persistent write-back cache 380 within the storage I/O stack 300 enables flexibility of how the data is written back to SSD 260, as opposed to a log which typically compels write-back in approximately the same order in which the write requests were received. For example, if the write data 414 were stored in the persistence layer log 335, the persistence layer 330 may be compelled to “write-back”, i.e., push or copy, the write data to the volume layer 340 in approximately the same order in which the write requests were received to allow reuse of the log space. This is because log space is typically allocated, filled, and freed sequentially, whereas lines within a persistent write-back cache 380 may be allocated, filled, written-back, and freed in any pattern or order convenient to the storage system. Accordingly, a property of the persistent write-back cache 380 of the storage I/O stack 300 is that write data is generally not retired from the cache until the persistence layer 330 receives confirmation (e.g., from the extent store layer 350) that the write data (extent) is successfully stored on SSD 260 of the storage array.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of logging in the persistence layer of the storage I/O stack. Illustratively, a write request 410 is received from the host 120 having parameters 413 (i.e., directing the write request to a storage container on the cluster) and write data 414. The write request is recorded (i.e., logged) in a log 700 stored in the memory 220, e.g., dynamic random access memory (DRAM). In an embodiment, the log may be organized as a data structure having a front-end 710 and a set of records 720 with metadata such as a head pointer (i.e., head offset 718) referencing an initial record 720 and a tail pointer (i.e., tail offset 719) referencing a final record 720 (i.e., last record logged)(see FIG. 7). Each record may include write data from an I/O request (i.e., data 740) and a previous record pointer (i.e., prev record offset 736) referencing the previously logged record. The front-end 710 and each log record may be copied to a persistent storage medium (i.e., NVRAM) by a direct memory access (DMA) operation 610, such as via the system interconnect 270 using DMA capabilities of the CPU 210. Notably, the front-end of the log may be substantially copied (e.g., via DMA) to the NVlog 335 (in NVRAM) with the exception of the head offset 718 and tail offset 719. Illustratively, the CPU, system interconnect 270 and NVRAM 280 have limited bandwidth, therefore it is desirable to reduce the number and duration of DMA operations 610 a-b. This may be realized by eliminating copying (i.e., updating) the head offset 718 and tail offset 719 from the memory 220 to the NVRAM 280 when log records 720 are created and the log is advanced. That is, DMA operations need only copy log records from memory to NVRAM and avoid DMA operations that copy the head offset and tail offset. As such, an amount of information (e.g., log metadata) copied by DMA may be reduced and contiguous memory DMA operations may be performed (i.e., avoiding overhead of disjointed DMA scatter/gather lists). Accordingly, in an embodiment, head offset 718 and tail offset 719 pointers are only stored in memory 220, i.e., not stored to NVRAM. Moreover, a single DMA operation 610 a may be used to copy a contiguous record 720 from memory to NVRAM (NVlog 335). While another DMA operation 610 b may be used to copy the data 740 of the log record 720 as one or more extents 470 to the storage array 150.

Logging Data Structure

FIG. 7 a is a block diagram of a persistence layer log format 700 that may be advantageously used with one or more embodiments described herein. Illustratively, the log format 700 may be employed in a dedicated log of the NVLogs 285, which provides an exemplary embodiment of the persistence layer log 335. Alternatively, the persistence layer log format may be employed solely in NVRAM.

In an embodiment, the log format 700 is illustratively organized as a circular log of records or entries 720 with the front-end 710 (metadata) having a magic number 712 that identifies the log data structure (i.e., enables detection of memory corruption), a version 713 that stores a version of the log, a head offset (pointer) 718 configured to point to (reference) a head entry (i.e., record) at a beginning of the circular log, and a tail offset (pointer) 719 configured to reference a tail entry at an end of the circular log. A last record offset 711 is included to indicate (i.e., reference) the last entry (i.e., the latest entry recorded). The log format 700 also includes a tail wrap offset 717 indicating a location of the end offset of the last (i.e., logical tail) entry when the circular log wraps. Similarly, the log format includes a start wrap offset 714 indicating a location of the beginning of the log when the log wraps. Notably, the tail wrap offset 717 and start wrap offset 714 may be stored to NVRAM (unlike the head offset 718 and the tail offset 719). Each of these offsets may be used when the circular log wraps. For a log of sufficient size, e.g., greater than 100 entries, wrapping of the log may be infrequent (e.g., 1 out of 100 write requests 410), thus any additional DMA operations required to writing the tail wrap offset and head wrap offset is small (e.g., 1%).

Illustratively, the log format may further include a replay count 716 indicating a number of times a replay of the log was attempted, e.g. during recovery. After a power loss, acknowledged write requests 410 (i.e., write requests for which the host 120 has received an acknowledgement and, thus, believes are stored by the cluster) may be recovered by replaying the log stored in NVRAM in reverse sequential, e.g., temporal, order using the prev record offset 736 in each entry to traverse the log. A tail (i.e., logical end) of the log in NVRAM may be found by determining the last (i.e., latest written) log entry using a sequence number 733 in each entry, i.e., the sequence number 733 may be used to indicate a temporal order. Illustratively, the log 700 in NVRAM (NVlog 335) may be scanned record by record. When the sequence number 733 of an entry referenced by the prev record offset 736 (in a current entry) is out of sequence with the sequence number in the current entry, the tail (i.e., latest entry) of the log is found. Replay of the log may be performed by playing back a number of entries whose I/O operations were pending in the other layers of the storage I/O stack at the time the latest entry (i.e., tail entry) was recorded. Notably, the head offset 718 and tail offset 719 (absent from the NVRAM, as indicated above) are not required; the log may be scanned to find the end of the log while (along the way) each entry is verified using a record header checksum 739 (verifying metadata in a record header 730) and a record checksum 741 (verifying all information in the record) included in each entry. In an embodiment, the log is of sufficiently small size (e.g., less than 10,000 entries), so that scanning the log may be accomplished quickly.

Each entry 720 may have a header 730 further including, inter alia, a type 731 of I/O request (e.g. write request), a record size 732 of the entry and the sequence number 733. Illustratively, the sequence number 733 (e.g., a monotonically increasing value) facilitates matching of entries within the log 700 to allow retirement (and reclaim) of the entries when all write data associated with the request is safely stored on the storage array 150. In an embodiment, the sequence number 733 may be a time-stamp or other value that is advantageously employed when the write data is split into multiple extents 470 and written to the storage array out-of-order. Notably, an entry 720 may be retired when all extents associated with the write data 414 of the write request 410 have been successfully stored on SSD 260 of the array 150. The entry 720 may also include a volume ID 734 (i.e., from parameters 432) that identifies a volume destined for the request (and a node servicing the volume), an offset 743 (parameters 432) that identifies an offset (i.e., LBA) for the write data, and a data size 742 (i.e., length from parameters 432). The record (i.e., entry) size 732 may be provided to calculate the start of the next log entry and a record header checksum 739 may be provided to ensure that the metadata information of the entry is stored without error. The record checksum 741 may also be provided to ensure the integrity of the entire record, i.e., the record header 730 and the variable length data 740 (i.e., write data). In addition, each entry may include an “outstanding entries to volume layer 737”, which is a field indicating the number of write requests (i.e., extents) in-progress (i.e., outstanding) by the volume layer 340. The outstanding entries to volume layer may be embodied as a counter that tracks the number of log entries (e.g., extents) being processed by lower layers in the storage I/O stack (i.e., volume layer and extent store layer). That is, for each put operation of user data to the volume layer 340 (subsequently to the extent store layer 350), the “number of outstanding entries to volume layer” may be incremented indicating the number of log entries (i.e., operations) not yet completed. Notably, the number of outstanding entries to volume layer field 737 records a number of outstanding (i.e., incomplete) I/O operations existing in the log at the time that the entry is created. Recovery to the last host write request may be accomplished by replaying (in temporal order) writes that were pending in the storage I/O stack at the time of the last entry of the log. This may be performed by (i) traversing back from the last (i.e., tail) entry a number of outstanding entries to volume layer 737 recorded in the tail entry, and (ii) playing the traversed entries in order from the oldest entry up to and including the tail entry.

FIG. 7 b illustrates replay of the persistence layer log from NVRAM. Once a tail 720 a of the log 700 in NVRAM 280 is found as described above, replay of the log may begin from the earliest entry whose data was outstanding (i.e., earliest incomplete I/O) in the storage I/O stack. As described above, the head offset 718 and tail offset 719 are illustratively maintained in memory 220 and not in NVRAM 280. The outstanding entries to volume layer 737 of the tail 720 a indicates a number of log entries to traverse back (i.e., backwards) when replaying the log 700. Illustratively, two entries 720 b-c are traversed back corresponding to an outstanding entries to volume layer indication of 2 in the tail entry 720 a. That is, replay of the log may begin at entry 720 c and proceed to entry 720 b and finally to entry 720 a (i.e., replay of two latest entries not including the tail). Note, the head 720 d of the log need not be determined (i.e., found), because replay is performed based on the number of outstanding I/Os in the storage I/O stack from the time of the last (i.e., tail) entry, not from the head 720 d of the log.

FIG. 7 c illustrates advancement of the persistence layer log in memory. In an embodiment, advancement (i.e., moving the head) of the log 700 occurs in memory when a contiguous sequence of entries 720 at the head completes their respective I/O operations (i.e., writes of data). Illustratively, a head entry 720 e followed by a sequence of entries 720 e-i within the log 700 are stored in memory 220. Assume entries 720 e,f,h have I/O operations outstanding in the storage I/O stack, whereas entries 720 g,i have completed I/O (i.e., write data is stored). When the I/O operation completes for entries adjacent to the head entry 720 e, the log advances from entry 720 e to entry 720 f. Illustratively, when a set of contiguous entries 720 f-g adjacent to the head entry complete their respective I/O operations, the log may advance for the contiguous set, e.g., from entry 720 f to entry 720 h. It should be noted that the outstanding entries to volume layer 737 previously recorded in tail entry 720 i need not be updated as the log advances; rather as the log advances (i.e., the head of the log advances), the entry that becomes the next head entry may be updated. That is, entry 720 f may be updated with a number of outstanding entries to volume layer 737 (illustratively 2) when entry 720 f becomes the head of the log. Similarly, when entry 720 h becomes the head of the log, that entry may be updated with a number of outstanding entries to volume layer, which may need to account for pending I/Os from one or more new entries 720 j at the tail of the log. Note updating of the outstanding entries to volume layer 737 occurs for entries in memory 220; no update is performed for outstanding entries to volume layer 737 for entries 720 in NVRAM 280.

In one or more embodiments, the volume layer 340 may record write requests (i.e., parameters 432, such as offset and length, along with extent key 475) on the dense tree 444. The recorded metadata may be logged onto the dedicated log 345 of NVLogs 285 and then pushed (written) to SSD as the log 345 fills. Writing of the log entries to SSD 260 may be effected by a change log operation, i.e., copying operation, that records insertions and deletions performed on the in-core dense tree 444. Accordingly, the entries of the dedicated log 345 may be retired (e.g., deleted, marked reusable, or a marker written to the log expiring previous entries) once the extent store layer 350 returns an extent key 475 indicating storage of the write data.

Accordingly, a metadata path through the storage I/O stack 300 involves storage of metadata in respective entries of the dedicated logs (NVlogs 285), i.e., entries of dense trees 444 of the volume layer 340. In addition, a data path through the storage I/O stack 300 involves storage of write data in the persistence write-back cache 380, where the write data is organized as one or more extents 470 and provided, e.g., via a memory reference such as a pointer or data message, to the extent store layer 350 and to the RAID layer 360, where each extent 470 is safely stored on SSD 260 using DMA operation 610 b.

Power Loss Resilient Paths

FIG. 8 illustrates data and metadata paths 800 of the storage I/O stack 300. In an embodiment, write data 414 of write request 410 is stored in the persistence layer log (and the persistent write-back cache 380 by a persistence layer instance 331). The write data is then formed into an extent 470 (and a hash value 472) and passed to the volume layer instance 341 and then on to an extent store layer instance 351 a for storage on the array 150. As described previously, the extent store instance processes the hash value 472 to index into a hash table 482 to either determine an existing table entry (e.g., a possible de-duplication opportunity) or a free entry. Illustratively, if no de-duplication opportunity exists (or the hash value indexes to a free entry), the extent 470 (i.e., write data 414) is passed to a RAID layer instance 361 a, which returns a location at which to store the data 414, e.g., via return parameters or callback 860, to the extent store layer instance 351 a (i.e., extent store instance). The extent store layer instance may then load the returned location into an entry of the hash table 482 (location 490) and record the table entry in the dedicated extent log 355.

Subsequently, the persistent layer instance 331 may wait until an appropriate volume layer instance 341 has inserted (committed) the extent key 475 and write parameters 432 (e.g., offset and length) into the dense tree 444 and recorded that volume metadata in the dedicated volume layer log 345. Notably, the volume metadata is not written into the volume layer 340 that resolves the extent 470 for holding the write data until the extent is actually at the SSD 260. That is, the volume layer instance 341 may not store any useful metadata until it is provided the extent key 475 for the extent 470, and the extent store layer instance 351 does not provide the volume layer instance with the extent key 475 until it has resolved a potential de-duplication opportunity. During this period, the outstanding entries to volume layer 737 in the persistence layer log entry 720 associated with the extent may be incremented. Once the extent key 475 and write parameters 434 are committed into the dense tree 444, the volume layer instance 341 may issue a callback 822 to the persistence store layer instance 331 informing the persistence layer instance that the write request 410 is “complete.” Note, as described above, after completion of sufficient operations to drain the log, the outstanding entries to volume layer 737 in the head entry 720 of the log 700 (i.e., persistent layer log 335) may be decremented to indicate this condition.

In an embodiment, the dedicated logs 335 and 345 may be stored on a different storage array 150 b via a different extent storage layer instance 351 b from that used to store the write data 414 of extent 470, i.e., storage array 150 a via extent store instance 351 a. In other words, the path for (write) data may differ from the path for metadata. Nevertheless, even if appropriate log entries in the dedicated logs 335 and 345 are not immediately stored on the flash components of the SSD 260 (or power is lost) the log entries are preserved in NVRAM 280, e.g., in NVlogs 285. Similarly, the write data 414 of the extent 470 is preserved in NVRAM 280. Thus, the preserved write data and metadata may be replayed to recover failure of either storage array 150 a or 150 b (e.g. power loss to the SSD 260) to enable successful storage of the write data (and/or metadata) to the flash components of their respective SSDs. Correspondingly, there is no particular motive to quickly write the extent 470 (write data 414) from the persistent write-back cache 380 to SSD, provided there is sufficient storage capacity in the write-back cache 380 to accommodate the write data awaiting storage on SSD. As a result, disjoint operations between instances of layers of the storage I/O stack 300 may be performed in parallel.

The foregoing description has been directed to specific embodiments. It will be apparent, however, that other variations and modifications may be made to the described embodiments, with the attainment of some or all of their advantages. For instance, it is expressly contemplated that the components and/or elements described herein can be implemented as software encoded on a tangible (non-transitory) computer-readable medium (e.g., disks and/or CDs) having program instructions executing on a computer, hardware, firmware, or a combination thereof. Accordingly this description is to be taken only by way of example and not to otherwise limit the scope of the embodiments herein. Therefore, it is the object of the appended claims to cover all such variations and modifications as come within the true spirit and scope of the embodiments herein. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A system comprising: a central processing unit (CPU) of a node coupled to a plurality of solid state drives (SSDs); a memory coupled to the CPU and configured to store a storage input/output (I/O) stack having a plurality of layers including a persistence layer executable by the CPU, a portion of the memory configured as a volatile log to store write data associated with one or more write requests, the persistence layer configured to organize the write data into one or more extents that are copied to the SSDs, the volatile log organized as a data structure having a front-end and a set of records with metadata, the metadata including a head offset referencing an initial record and a tail offset referencing a final record; and a non-volatile random access memory (NVRAM) coupled to the CPU and including a non-volatile log configured to store the one or more write requests including the write data, the non-volatile log further configured to store the front-end and the set of records when copied from the volatile log, without storing the head offset and the tail offset, to eliminate copying of the head offset and the tail offset to reduce an amount of metadata copied to the NVRAM.
 2. The system of claim 1 wherein the persistence layer is further configured to delay copying of the one or more extents to the SSDs depending upon a size of the non-volatile log.
 3. The system of claim 1 wherein each record of the set of records includes the write data of a write request.
 4. The system of claim 1 wherein the front-end and the set of records are copied from the volatile log by one or more direct memory access (DMA) operations.
 5. The system of claim 4 wherein a first DMA operation is used to copy a contiguous record from the memory to the NVRAM and wherein a second DMA operation is used to copy the write data as the one or more extents to the SSDs.
 6. The system of claim 4 further comprising a system interconnect configured to couple the NVRAM to the CPU, wherein the system interconnect has a limited bandwidth.
 7. The system of claim 6 wherein eliminating copying of the head offset and the tail offset reduces a number and duration of the DMA operations over the limited bandwidth of the system interconnect.
 8. A method comprising: executing, by a node coupled to a plurality of solid state drives (SSDs), a storage input/output (I/O) stack having a plurality of layers for organizing the SSDs; storing write data associated with one or more write requests to the SSDs in a volatile log in a memory, the write data organized into one or more extents that are copied to the SSDs, the volatile log having a front-end and a set of records with metadata, the metadata including a head offset referencing an initial record and a tail offset referencing a final record; and copying a portion of the one or more write requests including the write data to a non-volatile log maintained in a non-volatile random access memory (NVRAM), the copying to copy the front-end and the set of records from the volatile log without copying the head offset and the tail offset, to reduce an amount of metadata copied to the NVRAM.
 9. The method of claim 8 further comprising: delaying copying of the one or more extents to the SSDs depending upon a size of the non-volatile log.
 10. The method of claim 8 wherein each record of the set of records includes the write data of a write request.
 11. The method of claim 8, wherein the copying is performed by one or more direct memory access (DMA) operations of the node.
 12. The method of claim 11 further comprising: using a first DMA operation to copy a contiguous record from the memory to the NVRAM; and using a second DMA operation to copy the write data as the one or more extents to the SSDs.
 13. The method of claim 11 wherein a system interconnect having a limited bandwidth is used to access the NVRAM.
 14. The method of claim 13 wherein reduction to the amount of metadata copied to the NVRAM reduces a number and duration of the DMA operations over the limited bandwidth of the system interconnect.
 15. A non-transitory computer readable medium including program instructions for execution on one or more processors, the program instructions when executed operable to: implement a storage input/output (I/O) stack having a plurality of layers for organizing a plurality of solid state drives (SSDs); store write data associated with one or more write requests to the SSDs in a volatile log, the write data organized into one or more extents that are copied to the SSDs, the volatile log having a front-end and a set of records with metadata, the metadata including a head offset referencing an initial record and a tail offset referencing a final record; and copy a portion of the one or more write requests including the write data to a non-volatile log, the portion to include the front-end and the set of records from the volatile log but without the head offset and the tail offset, to reduce an amount of metadata copied.
 16. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 15 wherein the program instructions when executed are further operable to: delay copying of the one or more extents to the SSDs depending upon a size of the non-volatile log.
 17. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 15 wherein each record of the set of records includes the write data of a write request.
 18. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 15 wherein one or more direct memory access (DMA) operations are used to copy the portion of the one or more write requests.
 19. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 18 wherein the program instructions when executed are further operable to: use a first DMA operation to copy a contiguous record from the memory to the NVRAM; and use a second DMA operation to copy the write data as the one or more extents to the SSDs.
 20. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 18 wherein the reduction to the amount of metadata copied provides a reduction to a number and duration of the DMA operations over a system interconnect. 